In the eighteenth century, Haiti was the world’s leading sugar producer, but when cane surged in the Caribbean in the early twentieth century, Haiti produced none. Instead, the land sat idle while workers emigrated to work on sugar plantations. I examine the hypothesis that historical property rights institutions created high transaction costs for converting land to cane production. I collect new data on land-use from 1928–1950 and a proxy for transaction costs. The evidence suggests transaction costs impeded the land market from responding to the sugar boom.

中文翻译：

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小农场，大笔交易成本：海地缺少的糖

在 18 世纪，海地是世界主要的食糖生产国，但当 20 世纪初甘蔗在加勒比地区激增时，海地却一无所获。相反，当工人移民到甘蔗种植园工作时，土地闲置。我检验了历史产权制度为将土地转化为甘蔗生产而产生了高交易成本的假设。我收集了 1928-1950 年土地利用的新数据和交易成本的代理。有证据表明，交易成本阻碍了土地市场对食糖热潮的反应。